Boston University
College of Fine Arts, Department of Music
Counterpoint II - MU 406/705
Spring 2012
- Syllabus Instructor: Prof. Deborah Burton
Office Hours: CFA 223, by appointment
Telephone: (617) 353-5483
email: burtond@bu.edu
Meeting Times and Location:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 - 3:30, CFA 216
Course Description and Objectives
The official description states for this course states that it will cover the “study of eighteenth-century
instrumental styles.” This, like many other statements we will examine in this class, is both true and
not true. Here, the eighteenth century ends about 1750, with J.S. Bach’s death. And Bach, like other
composers of his time, wrote in many styles: he composed in the Italian style, the French style, he
wrote program music, he wrote in keys but also in modes. Further, these compositional techniques,
while certainly useful for instrumental pieces, could apply very well to vocal works as well. Perhaps it
is more precise to say that we will be learning to write tonal counterpoint in ways that Bach would
have recognized.
A subtext of this class is the relationship between theory and practice: there are innumerable
examples of composers teaching counterpoint by “the rules” but not following them in their own
works. You will have a chance to delve into this seeming contradiction more deeply with your
papers and class presentations (see below). You are also welcome to bring into class any examples
you may find of real contrapuntal pieces that seem to conflict with these “rules,” so that we may try
to discover together why this has occurred.
By the end of this course, you will have a good understanding of the art of tonal
counterpoint, and will have composed, among other pieces, a canon, a two-part invention, and a
fugue.
Prerequisite
CFA MU 405
Required Texts (available at the BU bookstore)
• Bach, Johann Sebastian, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I and II (Dover)
• Bach, Johann Sebastian, The Art of the Fugue/ Musical Offering, (Dover)
• Bach, Johann Sebastian, Keyboard Music (Dover) [This text includes the Two- and Three-part Inventions,
the Goldberg Variations, the English Suites, the French Suites, and the Partitas.]
You may substitute your own copies for any of the above, but please make sure that your versions
are not highly edited.
For reference (on reserve at Mugar): Kennan, Kent, Counterpoint; based on eighteenth-century practice
MT55 .K53 1998
Course Grade Components
• attendance and participation
• weekly assignments
• canon
• invention
• presentation / paper
• final project (fugue exposition)
2
15%
35%
10%
10%
15%
15%
Attendance Policy
Your attendance and participation are required at all class meetings and are 15% of your grade.
Excused absences include: (1) illness with a note/receipt from a doctor or health service, the day you
return to class, (2) official school business, (3) observance of religious holidays, or (4) extenuating
family circumstances. If a class is missed, it is your responsibility to find out what was covered and
what homework was assigned. Tardiness of more than five minutes will be counted as a halfabsence.
Weekly assignments
• In addition to the four larger projects, you will be given a short weekly assignment relating directly
to the classwork. Recordings containing all the assigned material for listening will be on reserve at
the library and/or available through the Blackboard page. Reading assignments from other sources
may also be made; any extra materials will be placed on reserve at the library, on the Blackboard site,
or given out in class.
• All written assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will go down one grade
for every twenty-four hours the work is late. For example, an A assignment, one day late, will receive
an A-. However, the lowest grade you can receive for handing in a completed assignment is a
D. Therefore, even if your work is very late, you should still hand it in. Exceptions will be made
only with appropriate valid documentation.
• If you want to hand in non-required written assignments for extra credit, they will be counted as
one-half a normal assignment.
• You are responsible for keeping all graded work in the event there is a disagreement regarding
grading.
Paper
A written version of your class presentation, the paper should be a well-organized investigation that,
in the first part, summarizes a "prescription" for a fugue set out by one of several theorists. Then, in
a second section, the paper should compare a fugue from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the fugue
prescription. Explain in detail, with musical examples, how the piece fits or does not fit the
prescribed form. The paper should be approximately five pages long, not including musical
examples. Further details about the length and nature of the project will be given in class. For all
questions regarding bibliographic form, footnote citations, and other matters of writing and style,
you should follow Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,Theses, and Dissertations,
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). This book is available in the reference section of any
library.
3
Digital Resources
• J.S. Bach scores: http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Bach,_Johann_Sebastian
• Paul Mark Walker, Theories of fugue from the age of Josquin to the age of Bach:
http://books.google.com/books?id=1PGj55jfH2cC&pg=PA276&dq=niedt+friedrich&hl=en&ei=
VqInTdXGD8H78AaKzNGcAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEoQ6A
EwCDgK#v=onepage&q=niedt%20friedrich&f=false
Conduct
You are expected to abide by the CFA Academic Conduct Code. Cases of suspected academic
misconduct will be referred to the Dean's Office.
Electronic Devices
All electronic devices are to be turned off in class. If your phone rings, you must silence it
immediately and may not answer it during class time, or send text messages. If you are expecting an
urgent phone call, please let me know before class and an exception can be made.
Disabilities
A student with disabilities must register with the Office of Disability Services prior to the beginning
of the first term for which the assistance is being requested. Students will be requested to provide
current appropriate documentation of their disability.
Blackboard
More information about the class can be found at blackboard.bu.edu.
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Course Schedule*
Week
1
Dates
January 17 - 19
2
3
4
24 - 26
31 - February 2 [1/30
last day to add a course]
7-9
5
14 -16
6
7
8
23 [no classes 2/20,
Monday schedule on
Tuesday 2/21; 2/21 last
day to drop without “W”
grade]
28 - March 1
Material
introduction, Baroque
melody
2-part counterpoint
“
Assignment / Text
Assignment 1
canon at the 8ve, 5th and
2nd
canon with special devices,
puzzle canons, etc.; intro to
invertible counterpoint
Assignment 4, Art of Fugue,
Goldberg Variations
Assignment 5 (canon),
Goldberg Variations, English
Suites, Art of Fugue, Musical
Offering
completed 2-voice canon due,
Well-Tempered Clavier,
Assignment 6
invertible counterpoint at
the 8ve, 10th and 12th
two-part inventions
March 6-8 [Spring recess
March 10-18]
20-22
“
10
27-29 [3/30 last day to
drop with a “W” grade]
11
April 3 - 5
fugue: types of subjects,
analyses of WTC and JKF
Fischer.
4-voice fugue exposition
12
13
10 - 12
17 - 19 [no classes on
4/16, Monday schedule
on Wednesday 4/18]
24 - 26
May 1
9
14
15
3-part counterpoint
“
analyzing fugues, student
fugues
student presentations
later fugues: Mozart,
Beethoven, Verdi
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Assignment 7, Inventions, WellTempered Clavier
Assignment 8 (invention),
Inventions
two-part invention due,
Assignment 9
Assignment 10, Well-Tempered
Clavier
Assignment 11, Well-Tempered
Clavier
Well-Tempered Clavier
Assignment 12, Well-Tempered
Clavier
Well-Tempered Clavier
fugue exposition due
* course material is subject to change; all alterations will be announced in class.